This Artist Proves That You Don’t Need Photoshop To Create Unbelievable Images

While enhancing photography with programs like Photoshop is a talent in and of itself, there’s something to be said for photographers who can create totally unique images the old-fashioned way. In an age when photo manipulation is the artistic status quo, some creators still capture their subjects in their most authentic forms.

One such artist is German photographer Markus Reugels. After his children were born, he developed a fondness for working behind the camera, and what started as a hobby quickly turned into something artful, brilliant, and refined.

One of Reugels’ most impressive collections is called Refractions. He’s extremely attracted to macro photography, and this series is the stunning culmination of that interest.

Hypnotice

Little Big Planet

To achieve this effect, Reugels takes high-speed photographs of water droplets falling in front of colorful backdrops. The result is at once minuscule and immense.

Spidey

Mercury

According to the artist, this method drew him in with “the spell of its unassuming beauty.”

Hero

Drops of Abstraction

Reugels himself, along with his static backdrops, serve as controls in what is essentially an artistic experiment. Once the variable in this test drops in front of the lens, gravity takes over. His responsibility is to capture that as it unfolds.

World on a String

Superman

For now, Reugels intends to continue working from this perspective. “It gives me great joy,” he writes, “to reveal the larger aspects of life through subjects that are so small.”

Mars

Falling Earth

(via Distractify)

While it would have been easy to digitally manipulate these images, Markus Reugels chose a back-to-basics approach. This alone is a testament to his abilities, but his inspiration to embark on such a journey is perhaps even more telling. “Maybe I’ll open people’s eyes,” he writes, “not just superficially, but in a way that makes them see the bigger picture, as if they’re seeing the world through the eyes of children.”

If you want to check out more of Reugels’ work, head over to his website and Flickr page.